This is an American Pale Ale brewed with French Aramis Hops as part of their Hop Kitchen series. It begins in a frothy pour, a massive head that eventually settles into a cloudy amber color. The head is gummy and leaves a clotty resin along the glass rim. There is a pleasant floral nose and the palate is tickled with bits of honey, herbs and hops. Mildy sweet without being cloyingly so. The body is crisp, airy and refreshing. A decent beer that makes for a refreshing summer quaff. Would I drink more than two at a single sitting? Probably not, but it is tangy, unique and worth a taste. (591 characters)

Appearance - Pours just over a finger of off white rocky head, body is a slightly hazy lite gold color, small amount of carb action, and I'm getting some pretty nice laced rings after each quaff.

Smell - Very earthy and floral, also getting some light toffee and baked bread.

Taste - Hmmm, much like the nose it begins with alot of floral and earthy hop flavors, but the flavors seem a bit thin, and as a result I'm only getting more of the bitter nuances of these flavors vs. something more full and flavorful. I'm also getting just a touch of citrus pith, and a whiff of white pepper. There is a light bready malt backbone that has a touch of sweetness to it. Long into the finish I get a slight minerals and something like sour plumskin. Alcohol is completely hidden.

Mouthfeel - Lighter side of medium, there are alot of flavors here but feels a bit thin. Carb is higher side of medium and has alot of edges, which accentuates some of the bitter, slightly dry flavors here - along with a light sourness at the end. Drinkability is on the lower side.

Overall - This is an ipa, but if you were blindfolded you would likely not call it an ipa based on the flavors. There are some potentially good flavors here but they seem just a bit off and unbalanced. In some respects this seems more like a pils than an ipa. New Belgium makes some pretty good ipa's - try this if you must, but Ranger is a far better ipa offering for the money. (1,438 characters)

Very disappointing beer. Supposedly an IPA, but does not taste like one. Exhibits a subtle weird taste at room temp, pretty much no taste when cold. Something of a herbal tea nose if you try hard. Cloudy beer which tastes of nothing. But, at 6.7%, it will get you wasted pretty quickly, to your detriment if you want to appreciate other beers in the same sitting. The only positive is the finish, which is beer-like. I think the "mystery" of why French Aramis hops aren't much used has been solved.

Certainly won't be buying again, in fact about a third of it ended up down the drain (without any "middleman"). (611 characters)

Came as part of a six pack of New Belgium IPA bombers from Costco, roughly $3 apiece. Others were Rampage and Rewind. I normally like to love New Belgium's serious stuff (I don't count FT as serious) and thoroughly enjoyed both the Rampage and the Rewind. But this was a huge disappointment.

Appearance: slightly hazy medium orange, limited lacy head.

Aroma: if I'm being kind, I'll say very earthy, and slightly grassy. If I'm being honest, at best, it smells like a slightly sour version of the mushroom compost I spread on my winter garden recently. I like compost, and I like the smell of compost. But not in an IPA. Maybe some hints of chocolate, like bittersweet chocolate, or baking chocolate? But no hop aroma at all. Nothing suggesting an IPA.

Taste: god, this beer kinda sucks. Earth / dirt, slight hints of sour, slight hints of grass. Hops don't seem to have darkened the door. The closest it gets is earthy grassy, with maybe a touch of lemon citrus.

Mouthfeel: decent, relatively low carbonation, slightly slick.

Overall: I was already planning on making veggie stock tonight, so I'm glad I don't have to drainpour it. (1,142 characters)

Nice enough looking beer I guess. Nose was nice off the initial pour but calms down fairly quickly. Flavor is slightly earthy with a mild spice and kick to it. This is kind of a "standard" IPA in that it doesn't really push to blow you away, but comes off as easy drinking and consistent. (288 characters)

Pours a finger of head on a cloudy straw colored body.The aroma is lemon and grapefruit. Nice.The taste is mild lemon bitterness with a little sweetness to it.The texture is light and airy with only a little carbonation.Great texture with nice flavor and aroma. Solid. (272 characters)

"A drier IPA for the summer, brewed with French Aramis hops to create an aroma of fresh cut flowers and garden herbs." Brewed in the style of an American IPA. This is the second release in New Belgium's recently launched Hop Kitchen series, another one-off beer, this time focusing on the reclusive French Aramis hop variety and its impact on a mildly flavored ale. Available in very affordable 22 oz. bottles and on limited draft. Released in the mid-summer 2013.

Poured from a 22 oz. bottle to a pint glass. Served above 51º Fahrenheit.

(Appearance) Pours a pearly golden cream head of a frothy foam consistency over a pale medium amber body with moderate haze and heavy flecked sediment. Retention is very good and lacing is medium and curtained. Carbonation is plentiful and vivacious. 4.5

(Smell) Aromas of strong floral notes, some milder herbaceous and grassy notes, but lively and wild without being too sharp and bright. Perceived bitterness is low to medium at strongest. Malt character is a basic pale malt with a pinch of biscuity body. Aside from some understated diacetyl and a pinch of cider acid, the yeast profile is fairly clean and pairs well with the hop profile. Potency is medium+. 3.5

(Taste) Up front, a light clean pale malt body with a moderate sweetness is joined by a potent blend of floral, fruit and herbal hop notes with a very muted bitterness. Clean and simple, a very hop-forward beer nonetheless, features the more overshadowed hop subtleties amidst a simple malt body with few malt and yeast distractions. French Aramis ends on a lightly bitter faint herbal lemon berry tea blend with a lingering herbal drag. The bitterness is very subdued in this beer, and is rather more hop-flavor focused. Very light and delicate hop presence but one that brings a great deal of unique and underrepresented hop characters to this beer. 3.75

(Mouthfeel) Dry, slick and clean. Carbonation adds some sprite and a bit of froth but keeps things simple and focused on the hops. Body is light/medium for the style, shy of medium overall. Alcohol presence is very mild. Balance is slightly in favor of sweet over bitter with a greater focus on hop character and flavor over bitterness, thus allowing an otherwise incredibly mild and simple malt profile to stand unchallenged. 3.5

(Overall) Although I would have desired a bolder bitterness and malt profile in a casual-drinking beer, I find that this beer better serves as an entry to a beer explorer's guide to hops and their utilization. In that case, one can clearly enjoy the impact that French Aramis hops, a seldom used hop in my drinking experience, creates in a simple pale ale. Hopefully, we can see more from these hops in the near future as they generate a lot of herbal, floral and lemon-tea character, the latter possibly more than any other hop variety that I have explored. This would accent very nicely an American Pale Ale, or even a full strength, highly bitter India Pale Ale. I am glad that I got to explore another new hop variety and recommend you do the same if you are interested in tasting new hops. As a drink otherwise, it's a decent, albeit simple beer, and leaves the imagination craving so much more. 3.75

Served from a bomber into a sampler. A moderate pour produces about 1/2 inch of frothy white head. This dissipates but is relatively sticky, coating the sides of the glass with streamers of lace. The beer is a hazy honey-golden and lightly carbonated.

Lots of floral hops on the nose suggestive of mixed fruit. The hops smell fresh, very grassy and herbal tea-like- flavors which manage to overshadow the usual citrus and pine, and yet don't completely overpower the malt, which hints at subtle caramel. Just a brief aftertaste of floral bitterness, and then a rather clean finish.

I bought a few bombers of this on sale for 1.99 a piece (cheap!). This is pretty easy drinking for the style and well worth a go, even if you're not a hophead. (743 characters)

Bottle share at Proof. Hazy creamsicle color with thin white head and thin white collar. Aroma is vaguely tropical fruit hops, and a good medium malt presence. Taste follows aroma very closely. Good medium body, medium carbonation. Surprisingly good. New Belgium is hit or miss for me, and this was a hit. (305 characters)

A: This poured a clear light gold with a little white head.S: It smelled like orange zest and a little grapefruit and floral hops.T: It tasted like light grassy and floral hops, with some fresh wheat. It had a clean bitter aftertaste.M: It was watery with moderate carbonation. Light body.D: This was an interesting unique IPA, but the scent and taste weren't great. The body was weak, but the finish was really smooth. So, easy enough to drink. Meh. (454 characters)

Poured into a round bottom, and settled with an excellent head. Laced with every sip.The smell is a lot juicier and fruit dominant than your ordinary IPA. Couldn't stop smelling it after opening the bottle. The taste is very similar. It was tough pinning what the flavor was really, somewhere along the lines of tangerine or apple, a whole mixture. An almost creamy, chewy body - very impressive. The malt never intruded, and it wasn't missed.

Can't say enough about this, about anything by New Belgium, a job well done for sure - (532 characters)

22 ounce bottle into signature globe glass, best before 1/5/2014. Pours moderately hazy golden orange color with a 2 finger dense and fluffy off white head with great retention, that reduces to a nice cap that lingers. Spotty soapy lacing clings around the glass. Aromas of tangerine, lemon peel, pineapple, orange zest, floral, grass, light caramel, light pine, bread, and herbal/floral earthiness. Nice and pleasant aromas with good balance and complexity of hop notes with a moderate malt balance; and solid strength. Taste of tangerine, lemon peel, pineapple, orange zest, floral, grass, light caramel, bread, light pine, and herbal/floral earthiness. Fair amount of earthy floral/pine bitterness on the finish; with lingering notes of tangerine, lemon zest, pineapple, floral, grass, light caramel, bread, light pine and herbal earthiness on the finish for a good bit. Nice balance and complexity citrus/tropical/earthy hop flavors; with a good malt/bitterness balance and zero cloying flavors after the finish. Medium carbonation and body; with a smooth, moderately crisp, and lightly sticky mouthfeel that is good. Alcohol is very well hidden with only a slight warming present after the finish. Overall this is a nice IPA. Good balance and complexity of unique hop flavors with moderate malt balance; and very smooth and crisp to drink for the ABV. Not as bold as I was expecting for an IPA, but it was pleasant and enjoyable. (1,434 characters)

Picked up a single at Whole Foods HQ a few days ago. Best before 12 January 2014. 6.7% ABV confirmed. 1 pint 6 fl oz brown glass bottle with standard Lips of Faith label art and branded orange/red pry-off pressure cap served into Cantillon stemware in me gaff in low altitude Austin, Texas. Reviewed live. Expectations are average given the brewery - whose non-sour Lips of Faith offerings are rarely very good. Reviewed as an IPA because it clearly identifies as such on the label.

Served cold - straight from me fridge. Side-poured with standard vigor as no carbonation issues are anticipated.

A: No bubble show forms as I pour.

Pours a two finger wide head of soft beige colour. Nice fluffy consistency. Decent creaminess and thickness. Not as frothy as would be ideal. As the head recedes, a nice even coat of lacing clings to the sides of the glass. Head retention is good - about 5-6 minutes - but the restrained 6.7% ABV makes this less impressive.

Body colour is a clear copper-gold of above average vibrance. No yeast particles are visible. Translucent. Semitransparent. Appears adequately carbonated.

Within IPA style conventions. Far from unique or special, but there are no obvious flaws.

Sm: Hm. It's a bit odd, featuring a prominent sage-like minty note. Herbal hop character is dominant here, which is strange, but it does have a more common floral hop dimension as well. A bit grassy. Evokes a white tea-like note. A hint of cedar, perhaps. As it warms slightly, I pick up a buried reticent peach note.

Pale malts and pilsner malts balance the hops.

No spice, alcohol, or yeast character comes through, though the fermentation does seem quite clean. I suspect a standard IPA yeast was used.

A pleasant aroma of average strength. I like the unusual herbal emphasis, but I'm uncertain the flavour profile will deliver.

T: Herbal, with the aforementioned sage-like mint coming through in addition to rosemary. Nicely floral - both in terms of actual flowers and hop content. Grassy. I definitely want more of a fruity hop character from it, but it does deliver a bit - mainly peach, with a hint of generic citrus. Hop bitterness is decently tamed on the open and going into the second act, but breaks out at about the midpoint, yielding an unwelcome assaulting aggression that is very unwelcome and really brings down the balance.

Pale malts and pilsner malts comprise the bulk of the body.

It does have some tea-like notes; white tea, English tea, herbal tea. Some hints of cedar as well.

No yeast character, alcohol, or spices come through.

The balance certainly needs some work; that hop bitterness needs to be more carefully handled. As with most beers, it could use more complexity and subtlety. Average depth, duration, and intensity of flavour. There's little nuance here, if any. The whole French Aramis hop approach feels more like a marketing gimmick than an actual informed decision; frankly there's little about the flavour profile that convinces me the beer is better for having used this uncommon hop strain.

Mf: Clean, crisp, lightly coarse, and wet. I always appreciate a bit of coarseness to coax out the flavours, but it goes a bit too far here. Not quite refreshing. Overcarbonated in classic New Belgium fashion. I like it a bit more oily. It's also not as soft as would be ideal.

Dr: Priced decently. Drinkable. Very forgettable. The French Aramis gimmick is a nice marketing toy, but even at this relatively low price I can't recommend it to friends. It's rather unremarkable, but maybe this will open the doors to other better breweries utilizing these types of hops in a more refined way. It does hide its ABV decently. Another disappointing bomber release from New Belgium.

Pours into an imperial nonic a clear rich golden with a large bloomng white head that leaves globs of broken lace as it settles oh so slowly.Very herbal in the nose with a crisp dry malt base,flavors are dry like the label says with herbal leafy hops and a dry maltiness,mild sweet biscuit is detected.Not bad and it would be good for a warm day like today, but it won't knock your socks off. (392 characters)

i know this was a summer release and I am a little behind the times one this one, but I just got back to Colorado, and there are still a few on the shelf. not sure the freshness, but the taste suggests its held up well, even by the pliny ultra purist types standards. clear honey colored and white heady on the pour, looks a lot like a good pils. the aroma is herbal yet still hoppy, a nondescript light grain bill is underneath with just a touch of sweetness. the hops are different from anything ive had, and this variety is totally new to me, the French aramis. not at all bitter, but summery and flowery, like I should be at a wedding, it has that vibe. a touch of ripe peach sweetness closes it out, and a real smooth medium bodied nectar washes down fairly clean. a little under carbonated, but its still real light, and I am left surprised and satisfied. I would like to see an even more aggressive use of this hop in something so I can further experience what it has to offer, but this is a hit from new Belgium in my book. (1,031 characters)

Enjoyed out of a 22 oz brown bomber with "08DEC13" marked on the label, which I can only assume means "best by" December 8th of this year. Poured into a 16 oz nonic style tumbler.

Appearance - Pours a jewel-like peachy orange hue, tending towards some amber compliments in the shadows and the faintest of toasted bread color around the edges. The foam is a healthy one-finger head of cream white, frothy with a moderate amount of pocking. Retention is decent, with a little bit of lingering lacing and a partial film atop as the head fades.

Smell - A nice and bright IPA aroma, lead by notes of lemon zest, fresh-cut grass and wildflowers, as well as some peppery notes punctuating the fruit and hermal elements. While the primary aromas are that of the plant variety, there is an underlying biscuity element as well, almost like butter crackers.

Taste - Quite easy drinking, but still with plenty of character. Lots of the same flavor profiles from the aroma are here in the taste. Light citrus and faint pine resin, along with a nice healthy malt backbone that doesn't overpower, but imparts a subtle bitterness like burnt sugar.

Mouthfeel - A little bit juicy, with a body on the light side of medium and moderate carbonation. Mostly dry finish.

Overall, this is the second installation of the "Hop Kitchen" series by New Belgium and as far as I'm concerned they are two for two. This is a nice, easy drinking IPA with a good hop presence that doesn't overwhelm. And at $4.99 for a bomber at my local bottle shop, this was an outstanding deal. (1,551 characters)

Fruity Pebbles!!! That was my first thought on the first sip! Would definitely buy it again, especially at $4.99 a 22 oz. bottle. Very awesome lacing, good head retention, very fruity on the nose. The taste,,, definitely French Aramis hops, sweet hoppy flavor, very good brew!! (277 characters)

I bet this beer taste good with a fine steak, or some Theo chocolates, or some gone cheese. Just the beer though is not what I consider a PNW IPA. Perhaps it taste better in Belgium? I am really trying it but it just isn't working....the aftertaste is like begging for replacement, pass the cheese please. (305 characters)